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Jack Sparrow's compass was an unusual navigational instrument most notably used by CaptainJack Sparrow, which he bartered from the voodoo mystic Tia Dalma and later inherited from his captain. The compass was the key to everything, for those who knew how to use it. Unlike an ordinary compass, Jack's compass proved most valuable, as it pointed to what the owner wanted most, rather than mere magnetic north.

Although it appeared to be useless, as the needle never pointed north, Jack's compass had supernatural qualities, giving him a special edge. The compass couldn't be used to navigate in a conventional sense, but it did direct the owner to whatever he or she wanted most at the moment. As the most special of all his possessions, this compass would be used in many of Jack Sparrow's adventures, including the search for the Treasure of Cortés, the Dead Man's Chest, the Fountain of Youth, and the Trident of Poseidon.

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The origin of this unique compass is shrouded in mystery. It was an unusual instrument and appeared to be useless as the needle did not point due north, like regular compasses. Rather, the compass had the supernatural ability to point to the thing the holder wanted most, particularly what the holder wanted at that moment.[2]

At some point, Jack Sparrow would barter the compass from Tia Dalma years prior to his search for the treasure of Isla de Muerta.[4] It is unknown what Jack gave to Tia Dalma in exchange for the compass. However, the compass somehow found its way into the hands of Morgan, the pirate captain of the Wicked Wench, under whom Jack was serving at the time. When Morgan was mortally wounded during the battle off the coast of the mysterious Devil's Triangle, he gave the compass to Jack, telling him with his last breath never to betray the compass.[5]

Desiring something that would help him save the Wench and her crew from their attacker, the notorious Spanish pirate hunterArmando Salazar and his dreaded galleon the Silent Mary, Jack took command of the Wench. Following the point of the compass, Jack steered her toward the Triangle. At the last moment Jack tricked Salazar into sailing into the Triangle where all the Spaniards were killed in the explosion of gunpowder when the Silent Mary hit the reefs.[5]

As a young pirate, Jack used the compass on several occasions. However, he was careful not to talk about the compass to anyone but those who knew about its existence. Jack knew that there was simply no way to easily explain to superstitious men what he had.[6]

Ten years later, Jack would still have the compass in his possession. When Jack was confronted by CommodoreNorrington and his men at Port Royal, the compass was examined by Norrington as well as Jack's other effects. After commandeering the Interceptor, Jack simply followed the direction of the compass pointed to and sailed straight to the island in an attempt to rescue Elizabeth Swann. During the voyage, Will Turner questioned the usage of the compass, saying it doesn't work, but Joshamee Gibbs said that the compass doesn't point north, but they weren't trying to find north either. Will later asked how Jack Sparrow got the compass in the first place. Gibbs replied that not much is known about Jack before his search for the dreaded Isla de Muerta. CommodoreNorrington later used Jack and his compass to lead them to Isla de Muerta to save Will from Barbossa. Jack would keep the compass on his person during his execution and used it to set a new course upon taking the wheel of the Black Pearl.[9]

Some time later, Jack and his crew were sitting in a tavern, where Jack told them that Tia Dalma gave him the compass shortly before his search for the Treasure of Cortés as a sign of gratitude for saving her from the vicious AdmiralRoyce of the East India Trading Company.[11] However, as Jack acquired the compass a few years prior to becoming an infamous pirate, this particular story was obviously false,[6] at least the part with the compass. It is possible that Jack's fabrications were the reason why it was commonly believed that he acquired the compass from the voodoo priestess seven years before the battle of Isla de Muerta.[12]

Ever since he was saved from the gallows, Jack Sparrow began having problems with his compass, to a point where his whole crew knew it hadn't worked properly.[13] At Fort Charles[9] Jack soon sought to find the fabled Dead Man's Chest, which was said to contain the heart of Davy Jones. After escaping from the Turkish Prison, where he recovered a drawing of a key, Jack would use the compass in finding his next heading. Marty and Gibbs discussed how strange Jack was acting by sailing with no heading, believing that something's got Jack vexed. In the captain's cabin of the Black Pearl, Jack would try to use the compass to continue his search, though was unsuccessful.[14]

"So you get both Jack and the Black Pearl?""The Black Pearl?""The property you want that he possesses.""A ship? Hardly. The item in question is considerably smaller and far more valuable. Something Sparrow keeps on his person at all times. A compass. Ah, you know it. Bring back that compass, or there's no deal."

The power of the compass would attract the attention of LordCutler Beckett of the East India Trading Company, who wanted to use it for the same reason: to find the Dead Man's Chest. However, Beckett's plans for the chest were different. With the chest in his possession, Beckett could gain command over Davy Jones and the Flying Dutchman—which, in turn, would give him control of the sea, providing him the resources to wipe out piracy in the world. To this end, he enlisted Will Turner, an acquaintance of Jack Sparrow, to recover the compass and bring it to him, in exchange for the freedom for him and his fianceé, Elizabeth Swann.[14]

Will would indeed find Jack, with the compass on his person, at Isla de Pelegostos, where he was evading the Kraken. After escaping the cannibal natives known as the Pelegostos, Will confronted Jack about his need for the compass. Jack agreed to give Will the compass, but only if he would help find the key.[14]

Seeking help from the mystic Tia Dalma, she asked Jack on why he couldn't have just used the compass to lead him to the key. She then realized that either Jack didn't know what he wanted or he knew but are loath to claim it as his own. With the information they gathered from Tia Dalma, Jack and Will were able to find the Flying Dutchman. Soon Will was eventually shangheid aboard the Dutchman while Jack was sent by Jones to collect 99 souls in three days.[14]

While gathering souls at Tortuga, Jack tried to get the compass to work but with no success. Upon meeting with Elizabeth Swann at Tortuga's docks, accompanied by former commodoreJames Norrington, Jack decided to use her. By using her need to save Will from a fate aboard the Dutchman, Jack convinced her to use the compass to find Jones' chest in order to save Will. This plan was successful as Jack finally found his next heading. However, throughout the voyage, Elizabeth's use of the compass would have it pointing to Jack.[14]

Jack, Elizabeth and Norrington arrived to Isla Cruces in their search for the chest. After a misunderstanding on which direction the compass's needle pointed at, Jack and Elizabeth were able to find the exact spot that the chest was buried. However, after a battle ensued, the chest was ultimately taken by Dutchman's crewmen and the heart of Davy Jones ended up in Lord Beckett's possession by Norrington's hand.[14]

During the Kraken's second attack on the Black Pearl, Jack was rowing quickly away, unhappy as he looked back at his ship. Glancing over between his destination and the Pearl, Jack picked up his compass, opened it and looked at it, staring down at the reading courses. Ultimately, Jack returned aboard the Pearl.[14]

When Jack Sparrow was taken to Davy Jones' Locker by the Kraken, the compass went along with him. After he was found by his crew, led by Hector Barbossa, he planned on using the compass to escape on his own, leaving Barbossa, Will, Elizabeth, Pintel and Ragetti. Unfortunately, the compass only spun in circles due to the fact that the compass was useless in the other world, partly because Jack had, at that point, gone mad. And so Jack was forced to bring them along aboard the Black Pearl, as Barbossa had the navigational charts owned by Sao Feng in his possession.[15]

Later, after escaping the Locker, the Pearl was captured by the Empress and the Endeavour. In negotiations between Jack and Cutler Beckett aboard the Endeavour, Beckett questioned his use for Jack if he had the compass in his possession. Jack pointed out that the thing Beckett wanted most wasn't the Brethren Court, but to have Jack Sparrow himself dead. Realizing it to be true, Beckett then thought to kill Jack so the compass would lead him to Brethren's meeting in Shipwreck Cove. However, Jack was able to convince him otherwise, stating he would find the Cove nigh impregnable. Before negotiations could continue, Jack escaped from the Endeavour onto the Pearl, but not before promising that he would lead Beckett to the Cove.[15]

"Jack has sailed the Black Pearl to Shipwreck Cove.""And with you no longer aboard her, how do you propose to lead us there?""...What is it you want most?"

At some point in the Pearl's voyage to Shipwreck Cove, Jack gave his compass to Will Turner, telling him to think like him, before stranding him in the ocean. Will would soon be picked up by the Endeavour, where he made a deal with Beckett and Jones, which allowed them to use the compass to find Shipwreck Cove. During the parley on a sandbar, Beckett returned the compass to Jack, having led his assembled armada for attack.[15]

After the battle of Calypso's maelstrom, the Black Pearl was commandeered by Hector Barbossa. Anticipating this betrayal, Jack took part of Sao Feng's charts and employed his compass to begin his search for the Fountain of Youth. Although the compass pointed to a bottle of rum before his voyage, indicating that Jack wanted rum more than the Fountain at the time.[15] Jack used the compass during his quest for the Fountain of Youth until he eventually memorized the route to the Fountain. After which, Jack only kept the compass on his person for the next several years.[16]

Sometime after being shanghaied aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge, Jack Sparrow was forced to lead the search for the Fountain by Blackbeard. Jack led the search on an island with the help of the compass. After happening upon a jungle chasm, Jack told Blackbeard the way to the Fountain before Blackbeard took the compass for himself and forced Sparrow to jump in the chasm and find the Santiago.[16]

As Sparrow made his way to the Santiago to retrieve the Chalices of Cartagena, Blackbeard's crew continued their search for the Fountain, with Blackbeard's daughter, Angelica, holding the compass. After meeting with Jack, he negotiated the return of his compass, which he gave to Joshamee Gibbs to lead him to "freedom".[16]

With the help of the compass, Gibbs was able to find the Queen Anne's Revenge. Sneaking aboard the Revenge, Gibbs used the compass to find and retrieve a bottled Black Pearl, as well as an entire fleet of ships in bottles. After meeting up with Jack, Gibbs noted of the compass's usefulness of his successful retrieval of Jack's beloved Pearl.[16]

A few hours later, feeling like he had hit rock bottom, Jack decided to drown his sorrow in alcohol. He entered the Grimes Pub and ordered a bottle of rum. Since he was penniless he offered the barman to trade his compass for the rum. The compass reacted to that action as a betrayal and loosened its hold on the Devil's Triangle, releasing from it every pirate's greatest fear - the notorious Spanish capitán Armando Salazar and his crew of pirate hunters, now turned into a terrifying army of ghosts. When it is thrown into Grimes' collection, the point spins around, which allowed Jack Sparrow to take a last look at it. Shortly after, in unknown circumstances, the compass ended up in possession of Shansa, the witch who was occasionally doing favors to the pirate captain Hector Barbossa and the British colonial authorities of Saint Martin.[5]

"Jack held the compass which points you to the thing you desire most, but betray the compass and it releases your greatest fear.""And a pirate's greatest fear be Salazar, is it? How did you get this?""I have my ways."

When Salazar and his ghost ship the Silent Mary began destroying Barbossa's fleet ship by ship, sending his treasure to the bottom of the ocean, Barbossa came to Shansa to seek advice from her. Shansa told him that the main target of Salazar's hunt was Jack Sparrow, who would soon sail to find the Trident of Poseidon, because the legendary object was his only hope to defeat Salazar. Shansa then gave Barbossa Jack's compass, telling him that if he leads the undead Spaniards to Jack, all of his lost treasure would be returned to him.[5]

Hector Barbossa holds the compass.

The next day, Barbossa's ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, encountered the Silent Mary on the open sea. Even though Salazar's men killed some of Barbossa's pirates, Salazar agreed to spare Barbossa and the rest of them if Barbossa leads him to Jack Sparrow. With the compass leading him in Jack's direction, Barbossa steered the Silent Mary until the next morning, when they found Jack's ship, the Dying Gull, off the coast of Hangman's Bay. However, the Spanish ghosts were unable to capture Jack who escaped on land where Salazar and his men could not follow him. Salazar was forced to release Barbossa and his men so they could capture Jack.[5]

After Barbossa restored the Black Pearl, Jack asked for his compass back but Barbossa refused. Instead, Barbossa gave it to Jack the monkey to ensure Jack could not steal it back.[5]

Jack's compass, bartered from Tia Dalma and inherited from the captain on the Wicked Wench, was a compact device whose domed cover was made from pure lapis lazuli. The inside lid was detailed with a map of the heavens, the central shadow vane makes compass work as a sundial, and the compass disk itself was sliced from a walrus's tusk.[12]

Unlike other compasses, Jack's compass didn't point north, but it had supernatural qualities. The compass could not be used to navigate in a conventional sense, but it does direct the owner to whatever he or she wanted most at the moment.[12], even if the bearer in question does not know the actual location of their desires, making the compass an invaluable tool for purposes like treasure-hunting and navigation. The effect of the compass was not limited to finding locations and objects, but could also indicate the user's desire towards another person,[14] even if that person wanted him or her dead.[15]

"Jack, remember, I have this wonderful Compass that points to whatever I want.""Points to what you want most. And that's not the Brethren Court, is it?""No? Then what is, Jack?"Me. Dead.""Damn. It occurs: if I got what I wanted most, then wouldn't what I wanted second most become the thing I wanted most? With you dead, I can find...Shipwreck Cove, was it? On my own. Cut out the middle man, as it were...literally."

However, the compass also seemed to have a special supernatural connection with its owner, to whom it would obey willingly and blindly for as long as the owner was loyal to the compass in return. The compass also would always conspire to help the owner's inner desires even while in possession of another individual, as seen how the compass led Elizabeth Swann to the Dead Man's chest even when Will Turner had already escaped Davy Jones' ship (in normal circumstances, the compass would've changed directions to point Will himself as Elizabeth's most inner desire was to save him).[14] This was also proven when the compass lead Joshamee Gibbs to the Black Pearl instead of literal freedom (Gibbs most inner desire ever since he was captured in England was to become a free man once more. Instead, the compass led him to the Pearl, Jack's personal definition of freedom).[16]

But while the compass was extremely loyal to its owner, if the owner dared to betray the compass' loyalty by dishonorably trading it or giving it away without expecting it to return, the magical object would unleash the previous owner's greatest fear in retaliation. When it comes to this punishment, the reach of the compass' powers was so incredibly vast and powerful that it could release powerful specific forces wherever in the world, as Jack found out when the compass released Captain Salazar from his personal hell, very far away from his current position at the time.[5]

The compass' retribution seemed to have no effect when it was willingly and honorably passed away to a successor as seen by how the first captain of the Wicked Wench passed the compass to his successor, Jack, before dying, knowing that the compass will be in good hands whilst in Jack's possession and trusting that the latter would only use it for the sake of their ship and crew. In a similar way, the witch Shansa gave the compass to Hector Barbossa as a gift in order to save him from the wrath of Salazar, probably on account that she did not obtain the compass with the intent of claiming ownership over it indefinitely and thus reaping no consequence upon herself in so doing.[5]

The compass proved useful in many of Jack's adventures. Jack used the compass during his search for the Treasure of Cortés, the Dead Man's Chest, and the Fountain of Youth. However, at some points in his adventures, the compass sometimes acted uselessly to Jack. During his search for the Dead Man's Chest, Jack was vexed, which forced him to give it to Elizabeth Swann who was able to find the chest. Jack tried to use the compass to find a way out of Davy Jones' Locker, but it only spun around, as the way to escape the Locker was only by flipping over.[15]

Jack used the compass during his search for the Fountain of Youth until he eventually memorized the route. He was eventually forced to lead the search for the Fountain by Blackbeard, who later took possession of the compass whom he gave to his daughter, Angelica, to use. The compass later fell into the hands of Jack's first mate, Joshamee Gibbs, who retrieved the Black Pearl for Jack.[16]

Jack lost or gave away the compass in nine different occasions. Six times it was taken from him when captured, one time he gave it to Elizabeth Swann in order to find the Dead Man’s Chest, one time to Will Turner to led Lord Cutler Beckett to the Shipwreck Cove, and one time to Joshamee Gibbs for him to find the Black Pearl. In all these occasions, Jack fully expected to get the compass back somehow, therefore never betraying the compass in the process.

A compass rose, sometimes called a windrose, or Rose of the Winds, is a figure on a compass, map, nautical chart, or monument used to display the orientation of the cardinal directions (North, South, East and West).

On the Dead Man's Chest DVD commentary, writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio note that the compass only points in Jack's "direction" when Elizabeth holds it, not at Jack himself, and on Isla Cruces, continually points at the location of the Chest, despite Elizabeth believing it is pointing at Jack.[19]

In one of the earlier versions of the Dead Men Tell No Tales script Armando Salazar was the original owner of the compass.[20] Some of the production photos show the uncursed Salazar holding the compass[21] but that scene was eventually cut.

During the back-to-back productions of Dead Man's Chest and At World's End, a red fleur de lis was added as a pointer because the compass became a more important prop.

In Kingdom Hearts II, the compass reveals the location of the Port Royal world's Keyhole, allowing Sora, the game's protagonist, to move on to the next world.

↑Ten years earlier, Jack showed up in Tortuga. He was captain of the Black Pearl, he was going after the treasure of Isla de Muerta. And he had the compass. Because Remember, Gibbs says he gave up the bearings which meant he knew where it was and you can only know where it is if you already know where it is and so he had to have already had the compass. - Ted Elliott